Public policy scholar to speak at Ozarks on Sept. 28The University of the Ozarks political science department will present a lecture by Manhattan Institute senior fellow Dr. Daniel DiSalvo at 4:30 p.m., Wednesday, Sept. 28, in the Boreham Business Building. Known as a public policy expert, DiSalvo’s talk is titled, “Public Employment in America: From Patronage to Public Sector Unions.” The event, which is free and open to the public, will be held in Baldor Auditorium. DiSalvo is a senior fellow...

Home planned for women released from prison or abusedFAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) — Kathy Kaczmarek has big plans. She hopes to start a transitional home for women who have been incarcerated or survived abuse, sexual violence or addiction. A chaplain for 25 years and prison mentor, Kaczmarek envisions a two-year program in Little Rock modeled after a program in Nashville, Tenn., known as Magdalene and Thistle Farms. It would be known as Magdalene -- Coming Home. The program is in the planning stages,...

by
THE ASSOCIATED PRESSThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

State Police: 2 killed in separate crashes on Arkansas roadsFAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) — Arkansas State Police say two men have been killed in separate accidents on Arkansas roads. Police say 33-year-old Chadd Lowderman of Ottawa, Kansas, and 62-year-old Johnny Darrell Tittle of Elkins died in the crashes. A police report says Lowderman was killed about 12:30 a.m. Saturday when the motorcycle he was riding went off a Washington County road and struck a tree near Fayetteville. Tittle died Friday when the v...

by
THE ASSOCIATED PRESSThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

No charges against Arkansas deputy in police dog's deathHUNTSVILLE, Ark. (AP) — An Arkansas deputy sheriff will not be charged in the death of a police dog left in his hot patrol car for several hours. Madison County Prosecuting Attorney Matthew Durrett told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (http://bit.ly/2di0cGG ) Friday that there isn't enough evidence for an animal cruelty charge against Deputy Jonathon Cornelison, who was the dog's handler. The dog was found dead in Cornelison's patrol car on Sept...

by
THE ASSOCIATED PRESSThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

FAA awards $5.9 million grant to Clinton National AirportLITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — The Federal Aviation Administration is awarding a $5.9 million grant to Clinton National Airport in Little Rock to rehabilitate the Adams Field taxiway. The funding was announced Thursday by U.S. Sens. Tom Cotton and John Boozman and Rep. French Hill. The project calls for improving 2,500 feet of the existing Taxiway A pavement. Airport director Ronald Mathieu said the grant will pay for upgrades that will accommodate ...

by
THE ASSOCIATED PRESSThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

Arkansas National Guard member died due to overheatingFORT SMITH, Ark. (AP) — A prosecutor says an autopsy shows that an Arkansas National Guard member died due to overheating after a training exercise at Fort Chaffee. Thirty-two-year-old Sgt. Sylvester Cline of Pine Bluff died June 14 at a Fort Smith hospital. Cline was assigned to Company A, 39th Brigade Support Battalion of the 39th Infantry Brigade Combat Team. The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (http://bit.ly/2cJxfF0 ) reports that Cline sought m...

by
THE ASSOCIATED PRESSThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

Arkansas court rejects challenge to medical marijuana planLITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — The Arkansas Supreme Court on Thursday rejected an attempt to block votes from being counted on an effort to legalize medical marijuana in the state, but two other challenges to the November ballot measures remain pending before the justices. Justices denied the challenge from a coalition of groups opposed to the measures, which would allow patients with qualifying conditions to buy the drug from dispensaries. The coal...

by
THE ASSOCIATED PRESSThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

Pine Bluff mayor to veto residency ordinancePINE BLUFF, Ark. (AP) — Pine Bluff's mayor says she will veto an ordinance passed by the City Council requiring all heads of city departments to live in Pine Bluff. The Arkansas Democrat Gazette (http://bit.ly/2db0KTk ) reports that the ordinance was passed on Monday. Mayor Debe Hollingsworth says it would limit the applicant pool and prevent the city from hiring the most qualified people. Alderman Steven Mays, who proposed the ordinance, says...

by
THE ASSOCIATED PRESSThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

Arkansas medical hospital to oversee pediatric studiesLITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences will receive a nearly $42 million grant to oversee a pediatric clinical trial network of 17 grant recipients. UAMS was chosen by the National Institutes of Health to be the Data Coordinating and Operations Center for the IDeA States Pediatric Clinical Trial Network that was announced Wednesday. The program is part of a national seven-year, $157 million initiative by the N...

by
THE ASSOCIATED PRESSThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

Arkansas lawmakers OK mental health Medicaid capLITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — An Arkansas legislative committee has preliminarily approved placing a limit on a mental health benefit for Medicaid recipients, despite objections from some providers who say it would disrupt patient care. The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (http://bit.ly/2d1Ov86 ) reports that under the approved change, Medicaid reimbursement for group psychotherapy would be limited to an hour a day, instead of an hour and a half a day. T...

by
THE ASSOCIATED PRESSThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

Hughes Mayor files lawsuit against election commissionHUGHES, Ark. (AP) — A lawsuit has been filed by Hughes Mayor Grady Collum against a St. Francis County Clerk and the County Election Commission. In the lawsuit, Collum challenges the commission's decision to place a vote to recall the mayor from his position on the November ballot. The Times-Herald (http://bit.ly/2cmfOfw ) previously reported that the commission was required to place the recall on the ballot because voters in Hughes collected ...

by
THE ASSOCIATED PRESSThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

Monticello mayor charged with abuse of power, tamperingMONTICELLO, Ark. (AP) — Monticello's mayor has been charged with fraudulently funneling funds from the city and soliciting unrepaid loans. The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (http://bit.ly/2cN4lVe ) reports that 27-year-old Mayor Zack Tucker was charged Friday with one count of tampering with public records and one count of abuse of power. Tucker's attorney, Hani Hashem, said his client hasn't been accused of doing anything for personal gain. Arkan...

by
THE ASSOCIATED PRESSThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

Oklahoma, Arkansas get share of $28.4 million in US grantsOKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Oklahoma and Arkansas are getting a share of $28.4 million in U.S. Department of Education grants to help improve college- and career-readiness for historically underserved students. The Advanced Placement grants announced on Tuesday were issued to 41 states as well as Washington, D.C., and will help defray the cost of taking advanced placement tests for students from low-income families. The Oklahoma State Department of E...

by
THE ASSOCIATED PRESSThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

Casino campaign asks Arkansas court to dismiss challengeLITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — The campaign behind an effort to legalize casinos in three Arkansas counties is asking the state's highest court to dismiss a lawsuit trying to block votes for the ballot measure. Arkansas Wins in 2016 asked the state Supreme Court on Monday to dismiss the lawsuit by opponents that claims the ballot measure is misleading and that supporters didn't follow the law for reporting paid canvassers. The lawsuit asks the court...

by
THE ASSOCIATED PRESSThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

Arkansas eyes tolls for 13-mile stretch of interstateLITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — State highway officials have commissioned a study to determine whether the state should use tolls to build a new section of Interstate 49 in western Arkansas. The Arkansas Highway Commission is also asking consultants to study whether a private company should operate and maintain the proposed tollway instead of the state. According to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (http://bit.ly/2ck0cJv ), highway officials are conside...

by
THE ASSOCIATED PRESSThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

Arkansas AG asks for oral arguments over LGBT protectionsLITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge is asking the state's highest court to hold oral arguments in the lawsuit challenging a city ordinance that bars discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender orientation. Rutledge's office on Thursday asked for the arguments in the case she and opponents of Fayetteville's anti-discrimination ordinance have before the high court. A Washington County circuit judge earlier...

Arkansas panel approves $200K for wife of killed constableLITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — The Arkansas Claims Commission has approved $200,000 for the wife of a constable killed by a horse he was trying to free from a fence on his neighbor's property. The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (http://bit.ly/2cCeLWc ) reports that Kenneth Johnson's wife was granted two separate awards for family members of officers who die in the line of duty. Johnson was killed in July 2015 after responding to a call on his personal ph...

by
THE ASSOCIATED PRESSThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

McCrory police officer dies after patrol car strikes deerPATTERSON, Ark. (AP) — Authorities say a McCrory police officer has died from his injuries after his patrol car collided with a deer in Woodruff County. Arkansas State Police spokesman Bill Sadler says Officer Robert Aaron Barker died at a Searcy hospital after the collision Thursday morning. Sadler says Barker was responding to a call at about 5 a.m. to assist a Woodruff County sheriff's deputy when he struck the deer. The crash happened on A...

by
THE ASSOCIATED PRESSThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

Resentencing ordered for Arkansas inmate convicted as minorLITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — The Arkansas Supreme Court has ordered a resentencing for an inmate who has served nearly 40 years in prison for a crime committed when he was 16 years old. Billy Ray Smith, who is now 59, challenged the life sentence he received in Pike County for rape. Smith, who represented himself in court filings, argued that a life sentence without parole for a non-homicide offense was illegal for a juvenile, and the state's high...

by
THE ASSOCIATED PRESSThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

Second suspect in fatal Hot Springs shooting surrendersHOT SPRINGS, Ark. (AP) — Police say a second suspect in a shooting that killed one man in Hot Springs and wounded four people has surrendered. Police say in a news release that 20-year-old Stephon Harris turned himself in shortly before 10 p.m. Wednesday. Jail records show Harris is being held without bond and court records do not list an attorney for him. Harris and 23-year-old Anthony Camden are charged with murder and first-degree battery i...

by
THE ASSOCIATED PRESSThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley